Pakistan PM Wins Time In Legal Wrangle Over President

Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Monday won a few more weeks’ breathing space in a long-running legal wrangle over the reopening of graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Monday won a few more weeks’ breathing space in a long-running legal wrangle over the reopening of graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

The Supreme Court ordered Ashraf in July to comply with an order to write to
authorities in Switzerland asking them to reopen multimillion dollar corruption probes investigating the president.

Ashraf’s predecessor, Yousuf Raza Gilani, was thrown out of office for refusing to write to the Swiss and the court has made veiled threats that the new premier could suffer the same fate.

The court had given Ashraf until August 8 to indicate whether he would write to the Swiss before adjourning the case to try to find a way out of the saga, which has dragged on for two and a half years.

On Monday, judge Asif Saeed Khosa adjourned the case again, to September 18, after Ashraf pledged to find a way to resolve the standoff.

Earlier this month the SC struck down a new law that sought to exempt members of the government from contempt trials, clearing the way for proceedings against the premier.